


The History Book On The Shelf Is Always Repeating Itself

by CaptainLeBubbles



Series: The Hallmarks of a Family (Hallmarks AU) [6]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Domestic, Gen, Qrow and James Show Up At The End, Valentine's Day, for like five minutes, this was supposed to be fluff and humor but it turned out very melancholy, whoops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-18
Updated: 2020-02-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:35:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22782622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainLeBubbles/pseuds/CaptainLeBubbles
Summary: With no plans for Valentine's Day, Tai makes plans with Roman to be sad lonely losers together.
Relationships: Roman Torchwick & Taiyang Xiao Long, background Ironqrow
Series: The Hallmarks of a Family (Hallmarks AU) [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1200967
Comments: 12
Kudos: 25





	The History Book On The Shelf Is Always Repeating Itself

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be for Valentine's Day but I didn't start writing it till eleven thirty pm so that was never gonna happen.
> 
> Also it was supposed to be cute and funny but Torchwick just made it really sad.

-/-

Tai was in the weight room behind the gym when Roman found him. He concentrated on his set, ignoring that Roman was clearly pleased with the view he’d found, and only once he’d done did he set the weight bar on its cradle and sit up to address his friend.

“So this is how you maintain those guns of yours,” Roman said, coming over to him. He leaned on the bar and passed Tai the towel and water bottle he’d left nearby.

“I have a free hour before lunch,” Tai explained. “And I like working out. Did you need something?”

“Just bored. My Tuesday-Thursday classes are close enough that there’s little point in leaving campus between them if I don’t have to but far enough apart that I need to find some way of entertaining myself in the meantime.”

“So you decided to come work out?” He glanced over. Roman wasn’t dressed for working out. “Or something else?”

“Something else. I was hoping there might be a few hotties sprinkled around here that I could enjoy. Unfortunately I forgot about the whole ‘everyone here is a literal child’ thing. But hey! I found you! So that’s fun.”

Tai laughed. “True! Have you had lunch yet? I was going to grab something after I shower, you can come with me.”

“Sure. I have nothing better to do.”

-/-

Twenty minutes later found them in Deja Food, one of several fast food places across the road from the campus, eating generic cheeseburgers and fries while Roman discussed his foreign language options, since he needed to take one for his degree.

“The thing is, I already know Spanish and Mandarin, so at this point I think I’m allowed to learn one I think would be fun, right?”

Tai choked on his soda. “Wait, why do you know Mandarin?”

Roman gave him a deadpan look. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed this or not, but Vale has a very big Chinese population.”

“I’ve noticed.”

“It’s good business to know languages people speak.”

“True.”

“So I learned Mandarin.”

“And Spanish too. Same reason, I assume?”

“Yep.” He shrugged. “It’s not a big deal.”

“It’s impressive. Language is hard.”

“Hm. Always nice to have my work appreciated, I guess.”

“So what language are you going to pick to learn next, then?”

He shrugged again. He’d seemed to lose interest in the conversation; Tai frowned, and decided to change the subject.

“So, Valentine’s Day! Any plans?”

“Hm? Oh… no, nothing.”

“No?”

“Nah. Just me right now- I don’t even have any hookups, let alone boyfriends. I’m just a sad lonely loser this year.”

“Join the club, then. I was planning to watch the kids while Qrow went out with James but they all ended up having plans- so now I guess I’m a sad lonely loser too.”

“What plans could a bunch of kids have for Valentine’s day? They’re not old enough to date yet. Wait, are they? Tell me none of them are dating yet.”

Tai barked out a startled laugh. “Gods, no, nothing like that. Yang is going to a movie with some friends, and the other kids are going to a Valentine’s Day party at the Schnee place- it’s really just thinly veiled free babysitting, since Whitney isn’t dating again anytime soon, but you know how Ruby is. Anything Weiss does, she wants to do, too.”

“Ah. Well. You could always come over to my place. We could watch movies in a fit of lonely loser solidarity.”

Tai frowned while he considered the option. It felt like bad idea jeans, given his history with Roman, but- it also sounded  _ fun. _ He’d never once gone out with Roman and not had a good time, and it had to be said, apart from his remark in the gym, he’d also been on his best behavior since their talk back in the fall. Finally, he sighed.

“All right. Sounds good.”

-/-

At eight o’clock, Tai stood outside the door to the stairs that would lead up to Roman’s apartment above the bar, a tin of popcorn in one hand and a case of soda in the other. He was beginning to have second thoughts about these plans. True, it wasn’t his first movie date with Roman, but usually Roman came over to his, or they met somewhere- he’d never been to his actual home before, for all that he’d been to the bar plenty over the years.

Before he could bail, though, the door opened to reveal Roman, who beckoned him to follow him up.

“Sorry about the stairs,” he said, hanging his cane on a hook by the door as he led Tai into the apartment proper. “Junior keeps saying he’s going to have a lift installed but that’s a pretty high ask even for him.”

“Stairs don’t really bother me,” Tai said, setting the popcorn down on the coffee table and handing over the sodas.

“Lucky you,” Roman muttered, and disappeared into what was presumably the kitchen to put them in the fridge. He called through the doorway, “Go ahead and make yourself at home! I already queued up some movies, you can pick something out if you want.”

“It’s fine, we can pick something out together…” Tai stood in the middle of the little living room, looking around, burning with curiosity. This was Roman’s  _ home, _ he realized. This was his inner sanctum. What did it say about him?

Unfortunately, the message Tai got from Roman’s home was a lonely one. There were no photos up around the room, nothing to indicate a connection to another human being- the only pictures were a printed drunk selfie of Roman and Qrow- Tai recognized it, Qrow had the same one taped to his dresser; the other was a worn strip of photobooth pictures of a scruffy bearded man and a dark-haired girl about ten, both with the same bright green eyes Roman sported. Roman’s family? Whoever they were, they looked happy in the pictures.

“If you’re done snooping in my house,” Roman said, returning from the kitchen with two sodas and a plate of tortilla chips with cheese melted over them, a bowl of salsa tucked into the crook of his elbow. He juggled them around to set them all on the coffee table beside the popcorn tin.

“Who are these people?” Tai asked, gesturing at the strip of pictures.

“Nobody important.” He reached over and snatched the strip off the wall, dropping it into the drawer on the tv cabinet. “Just someone I used to know. Don’t worry about it. So. What movie do you want to watch?”

“Oh- uh- I hadn’t really thought about it. Why don’t you pick something?”

“If I pick something we’re watching Mamma Mia,” Roman said, practically hurling himself onto the couch and gesturing for Tai to do the same. “It’s my favorite movie and it’s perfect watching for sad lonely losers.”

Tai sat. “We can watch Mamma Mia if you want. It’s your favorite movie? Really?”

“Of course it is. Name a better feel-good movie. Go on, I’ll wait.”

Tai’s instinct was to name his own favorite movie, but he took one look at the defiant tilt in Roman’s chin, and laughed. “Okay, fair point. And I’ve never seen the sequel, so-”

“In that case, this is going to be a Mamma Mia night.”

-/-

It had been years since Tai had seen Mamma Mia; he’d forgotten that the plot was cheap tissue thin, and in no time at all his attention was mostly on Roman, who had a lot to say about every scene and every song and kept up a running commentary throughout the first two acts that had Tai sprawled half across the sofa in laughter.

There was about a foot of space between them. Tai knew this because he made a point to keep Roman at arm’s length at all times, just to avoid opening doors he’d firmly shut.

And then the third act started, and by then they had settled down to just watch the movie, except Tai was still half-watching his friend, which made it impossible not to notice that Roman was trying— and failing— to disguise the fact that he was crying.

Tai sat up, all attention on the man beside. “You okay, buddy?”

“Fuck.” Roman sniffed and scrubbed at his face. “This bit always makes me cry. Shit.” He buried his face in his shirt and came up a moment later with face dried, eyes still watering. “I overestimated my ability to hold myself together, I guess.”

Tai looked up at the screen curiously; Donna was painting Sophie’s toenails for the wedding while Donna sang about her daughter growing up. Emotional, he supposed, but not the sort of thing he would have expected Roman to be moved to tears over.

“The third act is a real tearjerker,” Roman said, tone wrapped in defensive layers. He pulled away, increasing the space between them.

Tai suddenly realized he had a choice in front of him, and weirdly, it didn’t even seem like a hard one. He was a very tactile movie watcher normally; at home, he tended to end movies with Qrow practically in his lap (mostly because James always seemed to end up at the bottom of a pile of children), and keeping the space between them wasn’t helping him  _ or _ Roman.

“Hey,” Tai said, raising his arm. “C’mere.”

Roman froze. “What.”

“I have it on good authority that I’m great to hug during tearjerkers.”

“Whose authority?” Roman asked, suspicious.

“Would you believe me if I said Glynda?”

“No,” he said, and then his eyes flickered once to Tai’s arms, open in invitation, and without another word he scrambled over, letting Tai maneuver them into a comfortable position.

For a moment, Roman was stiff, completely still, and then slowly he melted into the embrace with a content little noise.

“Better?”

Roman squeaked. “Yes.”

“Good. Now get me caught up because I have  _ no _ idea what’s going on.”

“Oh. Um. The— one of the dads, the one she loved, he’s trying to persuade her to give him another chance, and…”

-/-

Roman fell asleep during the second movie. Tai supposed it didn’t matter; he’d probably seen it enough times he wasn’t going to miss anything, and it meant Tai got to actually  _ watch _ the movie instead of trying to follow it while Roman was talking about the history of the musical.

(Earlier he’d started to say something about his high school doing a production, and then cut himself off in the middle of his sentence and changed the subject. Tai had been burning to ask for more, but got the feeling Roman wouldn’t appreciate him being nosy. He tended to be tightlipped about anything from his teenage years; that he’d let slip as much as he had was a big enough deal on its own.)

The movie was nearly over, or Tai felt so, anyway. Sophie had announced her pregnancy and was singing with her mother’s friends. Underneath the music, Tai became aware that Roman was murmuring something into his shoulder. He stilled his breathing, straining his hearing, but it was just lyrics-

_...and now at last it seems my lonely days are through~ I’ve been waiting for you~ _

Roman had a nice voice, Tai decided. Softer than he would have expected, gentler. He reached his free hand over and turned the volume down, just a couple notches, enough that he didn’t have to strain so hard to hear.

Suddenly Roman stilled against him. The lyrics stopped.

“Roman?”

“I didn’t think you’d hear me.”

“I didn’t know you were awake.”

“I was dozing in and out. You’re… really comfortable. You were right. Great for tearjerker hugs. And nap hugs, I guess.” He sat up, stretching out the kinks of sleep, and propped his feet up on the coffee table, staring quietly at his feet. “You’re enjoying the movie, right?”

“Of course. It’s a fun movie.”

“The sequel plot’s even thinner than the first one. Like the first one was just ‘okay, here’s the setup, let’s move through these beats’ and the second one had all of this going on and there’s a lot of balls in the air… but the soundtrack for the second is better. And it has Cher.”

“Roman, I…”

“Hm?”

Tai sighed, and smiled down at his own feet. “Thank you, I guess.”

“For what?”

“Tonight. For sharing your favorite movie with me. That means a lot.”

“Mm.” His foot jiggled a little. He shrugged. “It’s nothing. Just… wanted to watch my favorite movie with one of my favorite people.”

Tai smiled. “That… that’s really touching, actually.”

“Oh shut up, I don’t like a lot of people, it’s not like it’s hard to make the top ten list.”

“All right Roman. Whatever you say.”

-/-

When Tai made it home- a lot later than anticipated- Qrow and James were already there. They were on the couch, James sprawled the length of the couch, legs hanging off the arm, his head in Qrow’s lap and one arm around his waist. Qrow was running his fingers through James’ hair, and the two of them looked so content, so completely at ease with the world, that for one moment Tai felt a spike of jealousy for what they had before the usual loneliness set in.

He pulled the door closed with a soft click. Qrow glanced up at him.

“The kids are all in bed already, so keep the noise down,” Qrow said. “Have a nice night?”

“Yeah. We watched Mamma Mia and Here We Go Again.”

“Love those movies,” James said, muffled in Qrow’s middle. He rolled onto his back to make conversation easier, but his eyes remained closed, and Qrow carried on playing with his hair. “They’re both stories about parenthood. Also, the soundtrack slaps.”

“They’re Roman’s favorites,” Tai told them.

“There, see?” Qrow poked James’ face with his free hand. “There’s a third thing you have in common.”

“They’re not my favorite movies, I just love them.” James reached for the hand in his hair and caught it, bringing it to his lips and pressing a kiss to the palm before moving it pointedly to his beard. Qrow obediently got to work playing with that instead, and James went on, “Anyway, I doubt we like them for the same reasons.”

“I think-” Tai went quiet, recalling Roman’s bitten off remark about his high school’s production of the stage show. His brow furrowed. “I think maybe… he likes them because they remind him of better things.”

Qrow nodded, and finally looked up at Tai properly. He frowned. “Hey Tai, you got a little something-” He tapped his shoulder; Tai looked down at his own, and realized there were eyeliner stains on his shirt where Roman had lain. “Hey, listen. I know you and Torch are pretty close these days, but uh… just be careful what kind of things you allow, all right? Just because he’s respecting your boundaries doesn’t mean he stopped being attracted to you. You could end up hurting his feelings if you’re not careful.”

“I’m not doing anything I wouldn’t do with my other friends- heck, even my own  _ brother. _ It’s fine.”

“Look, do what you want, I’m just saying. There’s a reason ‘gay guy is into a straight guy’ is such a painful trope in fiction.”

“This isn’t fiction, Qrow. It’s my real life and I’m trying to navigate a complicated friendship. I  _ know, _ okay? I’m not trying to hurt anyone, but keeping him at arm’s length when all of my other friends don’t have to be hurts both of us.”

“If you say so.”

Tai made a frustrated noise and scrubbed his hands through his hair. “I’m going to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.”

-/-

Once he’d left, once they heard his bedroom door click and his shower turn on, James rolled back over and buried his face in Qrow’s middle with a content noise.

“Torchwick is in love with Tai, isn’t he?”

“What makes you say that?”

“Because if he was just horny you wouldn’t care this much about Tai hurting his feelings.”

“Hn. I just… hate seeing him break his own heart taking what he can get and Tai making things worse thinking it’s just a physical attraction.” He sighed. “I don’t know how much longer this can last. Sooner or later something is gonna give.”

“Well. Maybe he’ll find someone else to direct his affections to before it’s too late.”

“Maybe.” Qrow switched from stroking to scratching gently at James’ beard. “On the bright side, we just got through a whole conversation about Torchwick without you once pointing out how much you hate him. We’re already improving!”

“It’s really hard to hate anyone when I’ve got my face buried in your navel.”

“Hn. Baby steps.”

-/-

**Author's Note:**

> There's a b-side of this short about James and Qrow but it has spoilers for the end of One Large Family so y'all will have to actually wait to read that one also I don't feel like writing it yet.
> 
> I've wanted to write a scene like this since deciding like four months ago that Mamma Mia and Here We Go Again are Torchwick's favorite movies.


End file.
